


Bitter, Bothered, and Belligerent

by Jewels_p



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Valentine's Day, s2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-26
Updated: 2018-09-26
Packaged: 2019-07-18 00:34:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16107032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jewels_p/pseuds/Jewels_p
Summary: Spike broods alone on Valentine's Day in Season 2.





	Bitter, Bothered, and Belligerent

The poet within, the one that refused to lay down and die metaphorically half as easily as he had literally, couldn't help but dwell on the symbolism of his and Angelus's gifts for Dru: Angelus had given her a human heart; flashy, dramatic and messy, it had required little effort or thought and would need to be thrown away the next day before it started to stink. Spike had gotten her a ruby necklace, he'd read about the gruesome history of the piece and spent time, money and minions tracking it down, it was older than he was and would last centuries with care. If she'd spent a moment concentrating on it her gift for psychometry would have had it whispering all sorts of nasty delights to her. Oh yeah he caught the metaphor to their overall treatment of his princess, too bad Drusilla was, and, in a moment of bitter honesty he admitted, always would be too enamoured of her 'daddy' to see it.

Her twisted mind saw her sire's cruellest tortures as equally indicative of affection as his occasional kindnesses. The damage done to Dru was permanent, vampirism froze the mental state at the time of death, oh the demon rearranged priorities a bit and they learnt new things, new ways of existing in a changing world but what a person cared for at death were the vampire who roses concerns too, perhaps it went with the lack of ageing, he'd mused, vamps never had to grow: grow up, old, beyond things. Dru was caught forever in the moment her mind broke during her rape and murder, a living mind might one day have healed but hers never could. Angelus had convinced the human Drusilla she was damned for her sight, that the only one who wanted her was the devil and Angelus was the devil incarnate, somewhere in the confusion of her mind that sentiment and the rape had combined to equal passionate love. Her feeling for Spike he suspected came from half remembered fairy tales mixed with one of her visions, he was 'her knight' she'd said, and he'd spent a century fighting to win his lady's favours hadn't he.

He'd spent the best part of the last week secretly doing physiotherapy exercises from the moment he'd felt the return of the slightest sensation in his lower body. He could now stand shakily with something to brace himself on but movement was still impossible, he had no hope of reclaiming Drusilla's attention by force. He liked to publicly curse the Slayer for his current state but really she'd been saving her love just as he'd been, also he suspected that his debility was magic's price for the interrupted ritual that had healed Dru and at any other time he'd have gladly paid it, but not now, not with fucking Angelus back. Magic made him nervous at the best of times but it had been his last resort to stop Drusilla's terrifying wasting, now he wondered if he was truly grateful for her return to full strength. In her weakened state she'd have been more encumbrance than anything to Angelus, certainly she would have lacked the strength for his twisted bedroom escapades. Angelus would have dumped her on him and the minions to care for as he had always done during Dru's bad spells after a harrowing vision. But then again with both of them weakened and Angelus losing minions nightly in his stalk-the-slayer vendetta they'd probably have starved...

Angelus was worrying him in other ways than his subversion of Dru's affections too, he was insane, not just the sociopathic artistry with its desire to desecrate the righteous that had been his trademark for his pre-curse unlife. That was a hobby to him, like his actual art: consuming but not all-consuming. Angelus would spend time doing other things, he had spent a week teaching him to draw once; they had gone to theatre performances often, hung out with celebrated artists, travelled to famous places all without bloodshed involved. Christ, he had sat there silently crying at the flaming ballet once. Also he would abandon his pursuits if there was danger or just dullness.

This was psychopathy, this was a vampire fixated on a girl, a slip of girl who had made the heartless, womanising bogtrotter feel something and Angelus wanted to rip out her heart in lieu of his own. The problem was this girl  was the slayer and the great forehead liked easy targets so anything and everything  _but_ the girl herself was in danger. He spoke of breaking her down as he had Drusilla, but honestly did he not know the girl at all? Going after her annoying super-friends, her rather magnificent axe wielding mother and her watcher would anger not break her, not until  _after_ her enemies had fallen. Still the Slayer's sidekicks all better be taking serious precautions or they'd be just as dead. On the other hand if he  _couldn't_ get to her and hers what would be his target, because Spike couldn't see his grandsire letting this go. Would he blow up the town? With the tunnel system roundabouts it would probably collapse nicely; or perhaps invoke one of California's infamous earthquakes and hope a building fell on her, Spike might actually approve of the symmetry of that one, if not for the certainty that the steel of the factory falling on them would do more damage that the Summers's little plasterboard and timber place was likely to do to her. 

If Angelus had been this wantonly destructive originally he'd have never made it through his first decade, never mind century, without someone putting him down. He was drawing far too much attention and this from a vamp that had more than once threatened to stake a young William over calling a mob down on them. Had the time chained by the soul driven the Irish ejit mad? Or had the breaking of the curse stripped away more of his 'soul' than vampirism had? The Judge had said he had no humanity in him but Spike and Drusilla did, so had poor Dalton, what made Angelus different?

What ever the cause of Angelus's new attitude he was getting too much to bear, it wasn't just Dru's defection, or the jibes at Spike's disability, it was the truly insane risks he was taking with their family's safety, he hated to agree with 19th century Angelus's frequent complaints about young William but enemy baiting was bad for everyone's health and after Prague he never wanted to risk his princess like that again. The question was what to do to rein in his grandsire? Dalton was gone, the other minions loyalty was to the strongest and there was no way even fully recovered he could go against Angelus  _and_ Dru, he would need help or a serious plan to move against them. Still perhaps it wasn't necessary, surely Angelus would settle down into something like his old self once he got used to being footloose and soul-free? Maybe it was like being turned again, revelling in the sudden power and once you'd gotten accustomed a vamp quietened into their true selves? He'd have to see how it played out and try planning for the worst. Not that his plans ever went right, so perhaps he better wing it as usual? 

Still at least the Judge was toast, hardly a surprise, he'd only agreed to assemble him for Drusilla because he could see that 'no weapon forged by man can destroy him' bit was just begging for someone to take advantage of a loophole, it had had a rather MacBeth like ring to it (he wondered what had chopped him up the first time? Stone knives, an axe made by a girl blacksmith? Oh-so-many possibilities). The fact the Smurf was in pieces to start with showed he was far from unstoppable. He'd just wanted to make Dru happy for a while with the legendary creature, but he'd always known  _he'd_ be happier when it was no longer incinerating his food supply. A shame he'd missed the show, Angelus had come back walking distinctly funny, damp and fuming, hilarious. The Slayer and her sidekicks were very good at foiling evil plans, much as it had irritated him to admit it. Hopefully they manage to put an end to Angelus too, hell he might even help them out if it would get Dru away from the Mighty Forehead...

 


End file.
